Risers and Fallers: Jayden Hibbert’s breakout season continues

I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen a game quite as boring as Atlanta United’s scoreless draw to Toronto FC this past Sunday. The soccer was truly uninspiring on a first watch, which made it even harder to go back and rewatch for this column.

Three cans of Celsius and some pondering about the meaning of life later, I finally got through that mess and managed to put together a few coherent thoughts on it. Without further ado, here are my Risers and Fallers for the game!

Risers

Jayden Hibbert

In his third start for the first team, Jayden Hibbert finally got his clean sheet. He’s deserved it, of course, after positive showings in a 1-1 draw at Toronto FC and a 4-1 win over Atlas FC in Leagues Cup, where he posted nine saves.

The New Jersey native had two saves in this game, one of which challenged his ability to defend 1v1 after Theo Corbeanu burned past Pedro Amador. Hibbert also displayed some solid control of his box, getting up to punch away a couple of balls that could have become threats.

At 21 years old, he still has a long way to go in terms of his development. While he is showing skill with the ball at his feet, even he admits that his long passing needs to improve. This potential has already caught the eye of Canadian National Team head coach Jesse Marsch, who called Hibbert up for upcoming friendlies against Romania and Wales.

While the club is searching for a new No. 1 ahead of the 2026 season, Jayden Hibbert is certainly making a strong case for himself and will surely be highly motivated to prove himself with the 2026 FIFA World Cup right around the corner.

Stian Gregersen

When Stian Gregersen is on the field, he is one hell of a defender.

The Norwegian center back posted nine defensive contributions in the game, including a crucial block on Ola Brynhildsen toward the end of the first half after Bartosz Slisz lost track of him and allowed him through on goal.

At a whopping 6’4″, Gregersen gives Atlanta some decent aerial presence in defense, and he’s surprisingly fast as well. In recent games, he has developed a good partnership with Enea Mihaj in the back four, communicating well with the Albanian international to defend as a unit.

Given his extensive injury history, including the three months he was out this season due to a hamstring injury, I had written him off as a potential buyout candidate a month ago. However, if he can stay healthy and continue delivering solid performances at the back, he could continue to be an important part of this backline for the next few years.

Enea Mihaj

Yeah, my risers are oops, all defenders, because that’s pretty much the only positive thing to highlight about this game.

I mentioned above that Mihaj has been pairing well with Gregersen, so now I’m going to go into a little bit more detail as to why.

Gregersen is what we soccer nerds call a traditional (or no-nonsense) center back. In other words, his main job is to stop the other team from scoring by tackling, making blocks, and clearing the ball without worrying too much about being skilled on the ball. Mihaj is what is known as a modern (or ball-playing) center back. This means that, in addition to stopping opposing attacks, he has an important role in the team’s build-up play, which therefore requires him to be confident in possession and have strong passing skills.

So far, Mihaj certainly looks the part. He once again led the team in passes into the final third (13) and delivered 6 accurate long balls. This helps the team break forward much quicker and find space to exploit.

But Henry, if this is supposed to make the team better, why do they still suck?

Well, dear reader, let’s dive into our fallers to find out!

Fallers

Tristan Muyumba

Honestly, it blows my mind that Ronny Deila is STILL playing Tristan Muyumba.

The French midfielder had yet another atrocious game, making minimal contributions at either end and killing and build up attempts that went through him. He won ZERO of his four duels and lost possession six times in this game. A couple of those lost possessions actually became dangerous counterattacks for Toronto, like this one.

And this one.

I think at this point it has become abundantly clear to opposing teams that all they have to do is press Tristan Muyumba as he’s receiving the ball to force a dangerous turnover. There’s a reason he’s been a faller in this column for four games in a row (mind you, I’ve only written six of these).

I would understand playing Muyumba if he were the only center midfielder available, but Will Reilly is RIGHT THERE!!! I’m convinced even Cooper Sanchez would be better at this rate.

Alzate has now played three games with the Five Stripes, so while I don’t think his fitness is at 100% yet, it should be good enough to where he can start against Nashville SC on Saturday. With playoff elimination looming ahead of a game against one of the best teams this season, Atlanta can’t afford to have anything but its best available lineup.

Alexey Miranchuk

Hey Alexey, remember how I said in my last column that I would be watching you? Well, I was, and this was a poor game for you. You were close to scoring another great, game-winning goal, but unfortunately, close doesn’t count in MLS.

The Russian midfielder posted just two shots and created zero chances against fellow Wooden Spoon contender Toronto FC, which is far below the standard for a DP No. 10 in this league.

The one caveat there is that Miranchuk wasn’t exactly playing the 10 in this game. Because Emmanuel Latte Lath was out, Ronny Deila opted to deploy Miguel Almiron as a false nine. This led to Miranchuk returning to the right center midfield role he had in the 3-5-2 for much of the summer. Therefore, I could see an argument for his effectiveness in relation to the position he played, but really, he has struggled to create chances the whole season, regardless of his role.

Ronald Hernandez

The main benefit of playing the Venezuelan fullback on the right side is that he can connect with his best friend on the team, Miguel Almiron. However, that all changed when Deila moved him to the No. 9.

Hernandez’s lack of chemistry with Saba Lobjanidze, who took over the right wing, was apparent. The two link-up play between them was nothing compared to the silky smooth attacking we saw with Almiron on the wing. This diminished Hernandez’s impact in the attack, producing just two inaccurate crosses and two accurate long balls.

Oh, but that’s not all. Hernandez was completely lost on defense. He kept tucking too far inside when the ball was on the opposite side, which often left a lot of space for Toronto’s left winger to receive the ball and easily attack space next to the box with a switch of play.

Hernandez might have also been seeing ghosts on the field because he started making strange decisions when marking in and around the box. For example, the image below shows Hernandez (circled in red) standing immediately behind Enea Mihaj and covering absolutely nobody. If that attacker gets around Mihaj, Gregersen can surely get there to close him down. Meanwhile, another attacker is making his way into the box (circled in yellow) and poses much more of a threat.

There were a few other puzzling scenarios from him in the first half that had me begging to see Nyk Sessock sub on in the second half.

What do you think of my picks? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to share who your Risers and Fallers are for this match!